General Question

Blog monetizing question--How do you add a product you like/endorse and receive credit?

I have a blog and often refer to products/books that I find helpful. I know about monetizing through Amazon, etc. though I have not done anything at all to monetize my blog. However, I realize that as a freelancer, another form of income (however small) would be of help to me.

1. Do you have a source/book or something that you have found helpful in monetizing a blog that is not product-driven?

2. How can you get a residual from individual products (not Amazon-linked) that you mention on your blog? For example, recently I did a story on a particular fellow who had created a documentary that I found to be really interesting. Not only did I do a full blog about the documentary, I also encouraged people to watch it when it was aired on TV and told them where they could buy it. It is not available on Amazon. Is there any way I could link my blog posting to this particular documentary site where it is for sale, and receive credit? Or would I have to contact the filmmaker and work that out with him? Even if I did, how would that be tallied (that people came from my site to purchase, that is)? Basically, how do you monetize and promote small, independent writers and independent sellers and receive a residual when you do that on your website?

I am not tech-savvy…so if you have info to share…keep that in mind. :)

5 Answers

Basically, in the case of the documentary, you would have to do a deal with the filmmaker. Also, you would have to use a product code that people would have to put in while ordering to know that the order came from your blog.

Some companies are set up to do that and others are not.

Some companies are willing to do it and others are not. You can’t compel someone to do it.

@marinelife….I wouldn’t ever compel anyone to do anything…which is why I was asking. I just thought that if there was some way to do it, and in a way that benefited both parties it would be nice to know. I’m all about helping freelancers and independent creative types sustain their lives…as in the case of this filmmaker…or the stay-at-home mom who makes aprons or the blogger who has a great article, etc.

I think we should all get paid for what we love to do. Creative people (including me) have a hard time asking for money. Lots of people assume that because we are “talented” and can sometimes (not always) whip out something in an hour, that we should do it for free. (That’s another topic for another time, though).

@DarlingRhadamanthus I was not trying to discourage you. I have done deals like that with a Web site I had. I just wanted you to know that it involves work. Also, you may want to try to do it up front before you mention the product so that the company can give you a product code to mention in the blog as well. Good luck!

Dear @DarlingRhadamanthus this question echoes my own situation very closely. As an artist and writer, I want to monetise my website and blog in some way. I am concerned about the ethics of blanket adverts through google and amazon, so have looked at ‘nanopayment’ or ‘micropayment’ options. Go take a look here, or here and see what you think. These are the two most interesting micropayment sites to me, there are one or two others.

Point about these is that you effectively join a supportive community of like-minded peeps, who also bring in their interested readers and viewers. I have joined Flattr, but not yet monetised my site or paid any cash, simply because I have been slow in building/writing my own material. Your own recommendations, blogs, reviews etc can be read as usual by any visitor to your site, but if they click on your Flattr or Kachingle button, you will get some payment.